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Protests planned over statue work

Atalaya residents are organizing protests against what is deemed to be a poorly-restored image of the Jesus Nazareno.

Víctor Eliseo Rodríguez/LA PRENSA

remodeled: A restoration expert has claimed that the Jesus Nazareno statue in Atalaya was altered during its restoration. Residents have demanded that it be returned to its original form.1144039

Amidst growing doubts by Atalaya residents over the originality of the recently restored image of Jesus Nazareno, several civic groups and Catholics are organizing a series of protests to begin in the next few days.

José Guevara, president of the Bethlehem Committee of Atalaya, confirmed that the organization has called on other groups to join the protests, commenting that "This can not stay as is...the people of Atalaya are commenting a great deal about what has been done with the holy image, and for this reason we demand that they return the statue of the saint in its original form."

Hundreds of religious followers traveled from various points of the province in the early hours of the morning yesterday to see with their own eyes the statue whose altered image has become the talk of the town.

Some residents, who asked that their names be withheld, even claimed that a number of unusual events, such as small fires, have occurred as a direct result of the inaccurate restoration of the religious statue.

The original image of the Jesus Nazareno of Atalaya was reportedly first restored in 1956 by Francisco Reyes, who repaired the fingers of both hands, which were determined to be deteriorating. From 2000 to 2004, minor cleaning was done to the face of the image.

Community leader Erasmo Valdés blames the discrepancy on poor management of the restoration project, as it was clear that the person contracted for the job was not the most suitable candidate for carrying it out.

Germán Pérez, a restorer from Chitré, seconded the notion, explaining that it is difficult to claim that the statue has been restored when the person contracted to do the work, Casimiro García, himself acknowledged that his professional experience entails sculpting, not restoring.

Pérez, who earned a restoration degree in Mexico, confirmed that the image of Jesus Nazareno is in fact not restored, but remodeled, pointing out that the restored image sports an inaccurate eighteenth century attire, which only covers the face, half his body and hands. "For this reason, it is imperative that a restoration job of this nature involve thorough research and review of relevant photographs prior to the commencing of work" he said.

In defense of García, however, Pérez explained that, for the minimal fee of $300 that was paid to García, a figure much lower than the $1,500 to $3,000 that it would normally cost for a restoration job of this scale, they could not, in good conscious, demand more of him. In other words, they got what they paid for.

Pérez said he did not understand why the diocese of Veraguas failed to consult a qualified expert, and constructively recommended that one be consulted now.

The Veraguas diocese has not offered a comment.

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